French Cardinal Jean-Marc Avelina called on pilgrims on Tuesday to return to the Holy Land and thus support Christian communities there, AFP reported. Pilgrims should not only come to the Holy Land to “deepen their faith and take some photos … but also to be interested in Christians and other people who live here,” He appealed during a visit to Jerusalem Avelina, who is also chairman of the French Episcopal Conference.
He described the interest in local Christians and other people in the Avelina region as a new approach to the pilgrimage and as a way to deep solidarity within the Church. “It is a pilgrim conversion,” He added the Cardinal according to the Vatican News website, writes TASR. He completed a five -day visit as a gesture of solidarity with local Christians Aveline together with two other prelates from the French bishop’s conference.
On Monday, the French delegation visited Bethlehem, City on the occupied West Bank that Christians honor as a place of Jesus’ birth but where Since the outbreak of the war in the Palestinian band Gaza in October 2023, foreign visitors have not come. “When we entered the Basilica of the Nativity of the Lord, we were the only visitors,” He noted Aveline.
The Cardinal also reminded the persecution faced by local Christians, who often cannot pilgrimage to holy places in Israel and East Jerusalem because the authorities do not give them permits to move from one area to another.
The French Cardinal also commented on relations between Christians and Jews. He assured that “our bonds with Jews were resilient” but warned of “alarming increase in anti -Semitism in Europe”. He also expressed Again, that “every criticism of the state of Israel is immediately perceived as anti -Semitism”. According to Avelin, this shows the need for dialogue and speaking truth without damaging the dignity of others.
Aveline at the same time informed that on Tuesday He spoke with the parish administrator at the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza Gabriel Romanelli, who was injured last month in an Israeli attack. The situation in the city and the parish was described by the priest as uncertain. However, the Cardinal added that he was very interested in the inner strength of Romanelli.
The Church of the Holy Family is the only Catholic church in Gaza. This parish complex at the beginning of the war between the Palestinian radical movement Hamas and Israel in October 2023 became an improvised haven for about 500 people. Most of them are Christians – Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants, but the parish took care of about 50 Muslim children. The late Pope Francis was in regular telephone contact with the priest Romanelli and was interested in the life of this community.
